Making positive family memories together and improving quality-of-life through thick sociality and bonding at local community festivals and events

Our study contributes to the current research on tourism and quality-of-life (QOL) by investigating Memorable Event Experiences (MEE), as a primary resource for familial bonding and memory creation. A mixed methods approach (focus groups and questionnaires) is used to explore the QOL indicators of: physical well-being, psychological/emotional well-being and relationships with family within the context of localised event experiences. Findings from this study are transferable across all aspects of the tourism system, they demonstrate that experiencing an event together as a family can facilitate collective memory creation, familial bonding, and create thick sociality or ‘we-relationships’ and can therefore enhance a family's QOL in the long term.